<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>East-high Love and Optimistic Screenplays by YS_dayasgrisha</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29212962">East-high Love and Optimistic Screenplays</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/YS_dayasgrisha/pseuds/YS_dayasgrisha'>YS_dayasgrisha</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Dancing together, EJ feels like a failure, Fluff, M/M, Time Jump, carlos is stressing over college admissions, elos - Freeform, pretend East-high is one word, production is hsm 3, slowburn, takes place during second semester, yes the title spells ELOS</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 06:34:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,151</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29212962</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/YS_dayasgrisha/pseuds/YS_dayasgrisha</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>EJ returns to East High as assistant theater director nearly 2 years after graduation and finds himself working very closely with Carlos.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>E.J. Caswell &amp; Carlos Rodriguez</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi guys! This is my very first fic on Ao3 (and honestly my first fic ever aside from a random Wattpad Andi Mack summer vacation script which we won't discuss). Please bear with me lol if it's a bit cliche. I mostly wanted to write this fic because of the lack of elos content that I noticed on here, but as I started outlining I actually really got into the idea of making a multi-chapter, slowburn elos fic (which is honestly just a testament to the power of elos lol) But yeah, this foreword is a bit of a mess so I'm just gonna end with I hope you guys enjoy and tune in to the next chapters!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>EJ rushed down the crowded halls of East High, frantically attempting to organize the stack of papers in his hand and dodge the swarm of students moving toward the gymnasium. </p><p>"I can't believe I'm late on my first day," EJ thought to himself, hurriedly turning a corner and sparing a glance down at his watch. He knew that Miss Jenn wouldn't care about him being a few minutes late, but he couldn't help feeling like this was the one thing he couldn't screw up at. Miss Jenn stuck her neck out for him to get him this position, and with the pressure from his parents... well let's just say he had a lot to prove. </p><p>EJ's distractedness and momentary lapse in focus was all it took for him to suddenly collide with a student in the hallway, sending his papers flying. He cursed under his breath and instinctively ducked down to pick the papers up without even glancing at the student he collided with.</p><p>"EJ?" a familiar voice said from directly above him. It had been two years, but he instantly recognized the source of the voice; it was one that inexplicably made him a bit dizzy and caused his heart to beat slightly faster in his chest.</p><p>EJ looked up and saw Carlos Rodriguez, a fellow student from his time in East High drama club. Although him and Carlos weren't close when he went to East High, he admittedly always felt a desire to get to know him better. Carlos was the type of person who made everyone around him want to be better, even EJ who had made his fair share of poor decisions in the past. </p><p>Carlos had dropped his signature bomber jacket for a dark red sweater, but other than that, there he was. Carlos. Same oversized glasses which EJ secretly found adorable. Same small stature. Same soft brown hair...<br/>EJ realized that he'd been frozen for the past few seconds and quickly snapped himself out of it. </p><p>"Carlos! Wow, crazy seeing you here!" EJ internally kicked himself. Crazy seeing you here? Why wouldn't he be here?</p><p>Carlos looked a bit confused at the last part of EJ's sentence, but smiled brightly at him, seeming to suddenly remember the papers on the floor as he bent down to help EJ clean them up.<br/>"I think I should probably be the one questioning why you're here," Carlos joked as he scooped the remaining papers into a stack.</p><p>EJ laughed awkwardly "yeah probably."</p><p>Carlos handed EJ his papers, their fingertips brushing and lingering for just a split second longer than necessary. Carlos' breath hitched quietly a bit before he quickly broke the spell and stood up from the floor.</p><p>"I'm guessing that you're not here to disguise yourself as a Senior and audition for the musical?" he quipped while glancing down at the High School Musical 3 script EJ was clutching in his hand.</p><p>Brushing off the awkwardness, EJ chuckled and stood up. "Actually... I'm here to assist Miss Jenn with the musical this year. Yeah, with the increased budget after the first High School Musical production it turns out that we can actually afford a bit of extra help around here."</p><p>Carlos felt a strange feeling in his chest at the thought of EJ staying the whole semester and working closely with him on the show. But before he could say anything, he was interrupted by the sound of a shrill scream from the end of the hall that was dramatic even for him.</p><p>Both him and EJ turned to see Gina practically sprinting towards them with Ashlyn following at a less excited pace behind her. Gina reached them and tackled EJ in a hug, narrowly avoiding making him drop his papers again. </p><p>"How are you here?!" she asked excitedly finally releasing him from the embrace.</p><p>"Let's see, well first a car ride...then a train-"</p><p>Gina punched him in the shoulder and rolled her eyes. "So hilarious. But really, what are you doing here?"</p><p>"Um well I was actually just telling Carlos that Miss Jenn offered me a position as assistant theater director for this semester!"</p><p>"Dude! That's amazing," Gina said excitedly, pulling him into another hug. </p><p>Ashlyn reached the group and Gina suddenly pulled away from the hug to whip around and face her.</p><p>"Wait, did you know about this?!" Gina said while shooting a fake-angry look at her.</p><p>Ashlyn made an apologetic face. "Sorry, EJ wanted it to be a surprise. But I've only known for a few days I promise, and only because we had a family dinner on Saturday night."<br/>Gina seemed to accept her answer and went back to being excited. </p><p>Carlos, who had been awkwardly watching this exchange, cut off Gina's string of questions about the musical and why EJ moved back when he noticed that the hallway was almost completely emptied.<br/>"This is very exciting and all, but we should probably head to the gym for the assembly." </p><p>The group noticed the empty hallway, and Ashlyn, Carlos, and Gina began to make their way in the direction of the gym.</p><p>Gina turned back to face EJ "you coming?"</p><p>EJ internally scolded himself for wasting more time. He was supposed to meet Miss Jenn in her office before the assembly to go over a few things, but seeing as he was so late, he would have to just continue on to the gym.</p><p>"yeah," EJ replied, jogging a bit to catch up with the group as they hurried down the hall.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>EJ and Carlos bonding :)</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The student body response to the announcement of the upcoming musical was uncharacteristically enthusiastic, and even kids who were previous theater-antis were buzzing with excitement. This overwhelming positivity filled EJ with more confidence, but it also made him worry about whether he would be able to help create a production that could live up to the hype.</p><p>EJ and Miss Jenn ducked out of the assembly early, and were now sitting in her office discussing the plans for the musical. Or at least that’s what they were supposed to be doing, but Miss Jenn had just begun her second rant about her high school drama club days and didn’t show any signs of letting up soon. EJ was listening semi-intently to some story about a production of Grease when they both heard a knock on the door. </p><p>“Come in” Miss Jenn chimed, snapping out of her trip down memory lane.</p><p>Carlos entered the room like he had been in there a thousand times, but he became more tentative when he spotted EJ sitting in one of the chairs in Miss Jenn’s office.<br/>“Carlos! Come in, have a seat,” she exclaimed excitedly while gesturing to another empty chair next to EJ in front of her desk. “I’m sure you’ve heard, but EJ is going to be our assistant theater director for the musical this semester!”</p><p>Carlos gave a forced smile and replied “Yeah, we ran into each other in the hall before the assembly.”</p><p>“It’s actually great that you’re here. We were just about to go over some of the details for auditions, and it would be great to have your input on which songs to choose,”</p><p>EJ began to chime in, but he was interrupted by the principal’s intercom summoning Miss Jenn to his office.<br/>“Oh, I’ll be right back! You guys go ahead and discuss without me. You'll be seeing a lot of each other this semester, so this will be a good opportunity to work together.”</p><p>Carlos’s face flushed a bit at Miss Jenn’s last comment and both him and EJ briefly made eye contact. Once Miss Jenn had left, there was an awkward pause where neither one of them knew what to say.<br/>“Sorry again for earlier… you know bumping into you and everything,” EJ started, attempting to break the ice.<br/>“It’s fine. Walking while holding stacks of sheet music is kind of an occupational hazard,” Carlos joked.<br/>The two boys laughed before another short awkward silence fell over them. <br/>Carlos got up and began to fiddle with a few of the trinkets on Miss Jenn’s desk, suddenly having a wistful look on his face.<br/>“You know, there’s something kind of poetic about this musical being the last one of my last semester of high school. It’s like the beginning of a new chapter.”</p><p>“I can’t tell if this is the beginning or the end of a chapter for me,” EJ said with a small chuckle.<br/>Carlos turned to look at him and saw a hint of sadness in his eyes before he continued,<br/>“I don’t know… being here feels right, but it also feels like maybe I’m just clinging to the last bits of childhood I have left.”</p><p>“Well what’s wrong with that,” Carlos replied with a mischievous glint in his eyes.</p><p>“Nothing I guess… well not unless you ask my parents. They think I’m a failure for giving up playing water polo at Stanford to be a theater director and take classes at a local college. But honestly… I hated it there. I was falling behind in half my classes and the only reason I was even there was to play a sport that I hadn’t loved since I was a sophomore in High School. I guess I didn’t really have everything figured out, and I still don’t, but I just knew what I didn’t want my life to look like. You know?” EJ finished his rant and looked up at Carlos who was now standing completely still just a few feet away. </p><p>EJ started to get self-conscious about his long winded rant and was about to backtrack when Carlos responded.<br/>“Yeah actually… I do get it,” Carlos walked to the other side of EJ to sit back down in the chair next to him, “I have an older brother who is basically everything a parent could ask for. He’s a few years away from becoming a surgeon and literally saving lives, which is a lot to live up to," Carlos paused for a bit as if weighing whether he'd shared too much before continuing, "He’s a lot older than me, so most of the time it felt like I was basically growing up as an only child, but I still had this illusive older brother that my every move was measured against even when he wasn’t there.”</p><p>“Wow… that sucks, I’m sorry," EJ said staring intently at Carlos. <br/>“It’s okay. I think my parents have finally come to terms with the fact that I want to be a performer. But I’d be lying if I said that there wasn’t extra pressure to succeed and prove that I can do this. I just have all these big plans and dreams... I feel like there’s got to be more to life than small town high school theater productions”<br/>Carlos winced after the last sentence came out of his mouth.</p><p>“Sorry, that’s not what I meant, I didn’t mean to say that high school theater productions aren’t important or anything and I --”<br/>Carlos was cut off by Miss Jenn entering the room.<br/>EJ tried to give Carlos a vaguely convincing look that said “it’s fine” and turned his attention to Miss Jenn who was already beginning to spout off more ideas for the production. <br/>Carlos sunk a bit further into the chair wanting to disappear and internally scolded himself.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry it took me so long to post this second chapter. I am going to try to post a chapter every week or every other week.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next day after school, EJ walked into the theater to find Carlos going through stacks of sheet music laid out on the grand piano.</p><p>“You know that’s technically my job right?” EJ joked while emerging from the wings behind Carlos.<br/>“Sorry, force of habit.” Carlos smiled shyly at EJ and stepped aside to make space at the piano. <br/>He watched EJ sift through the papers and debated how best to address yesterday’s awkwardness. Finally, in true Carlos fashion, he blurted out, “I’m really sorry about yesterday.”<br/>EJ looked up at him slightly confused before a flash of recognition crossed his face. </p><p>Carlos continued, “Sometimes I say things without really thinking them through and other times I say things completely wrong and not at all how I meant them and--”<br/>EJ abruptly placed his hands on Carlos’s shoulders cutting his speech short. “Carlos, it’s okay,” he said with a small laugh, “You don’t need to apologize. I know what you were trying to say, and I didn’t take it personally.” Carlos let out a relieved laugh and finally made eye contact with EJ. <br/>He’d never really noticed before, but from this distance he could see little brown flecks in the blue-green pool of EJ’s eyes. Carlos noticed how the brown flecks almost looked gold under the bright theater lights and that EJ’s eyes somehow managed to be both intense and inviting. </p><p>Sensing the change in eye contact, EJ finally registered their unusually close physical proximity. He removed his hands awkwardly (and almost begrudgingly) to turn back towards the piano. </p><p>Carlos looked at him from the corner of his eye. “Get a grip,” he thought to himself, “It’s just EJ.” EJ Caswell… who he’d secretly had a crush on since like Freshman year when one of his friends dragged him to a water polo game. Up until Sophomore year, he thought it was just a passing crush, a momentary (albeit understandable) attraction to someone who would never see him as anything more than a friend… worse, someone who’d never see him at all. Then High School Musical happened and the feelings intensified when he got to know him a bit and just when they’d finally worked their way up to being friends, EJ graduated and just like that he was gone. Carlos tried so hard to forget about that small, stupid crush for the past one and a half years. In fact, he had just about succeeded, and then just like that there EJ was again, wearing a mustard yellow button down and looking just as handsome as Carlos remembered.</p><p>EJ continued to work, completely oblivious to how much just his presence threw Carlos off balance. </p><p>Carlos sighed and listened intently as EJ began to go over the details of auditions. </p><p> </p><p>*******</p><p>Auditions went by like a blur. The theater department had grown significantly since the success of the first High School Musical production, and there were now dozens of kids of varying talent levels looking to take a shot at being the leads. Despite the extra competition, Gina killed it (as usual), and EJ was almost certain that any deliberation on his and Miss Jenn’s part would likely be just a formality. </p><p>EJ and Miss Jenn were now sitting in the first row of audience chairs going over their notes from auditions, with Carlos a few chairs down planning dance numbers and pretending to not be eavesdropping on the decisions being made.</p><p>“Okay, now onto Gina,” Miss Jenn began, holding up Gina’s page in her audition notes.</p><p>“Obviously Gabriella,” Carlos chimed in, not bothering to look up from his laptop.</p><p>EJ shook his head and teased “I think it’s a conflict of interest for you to be here Carlos, you might be biased.”</p><p>Carlos put his hand on his heart in mock offense and replied, “ Me? How am I the biased one, when you’re practically Gina’s big brother?”</p><p>“I don’t know Carlos, I guess some of us just have a certain professionalism that others lack,” EJ said with a smirk.</p><p>“Oh really? Like that time in rehearsal when I read the part of Gabriella and you went full method acting in front of everyone?” </p><p>EJ covered his face with his hands, cringing at the memory. <br/>“Okay okay, you win. I’m waving the white flag,” he said lightheartedly.<br/>The two boys smiled at each other from across the chairs before Carlos turned back towards his laptop. </p><p>Miss Jenn who was watching the exchange with amusement chimed in, “Although Carlos is not supposed to be deciding casting this semester,” she shot him a fake-stern look and continued, ”and although as the theater director I am supposed to acknowledge everyone equally, I think we can all agree that Gina is undoubtedly our Gabriella.”<br/>Carlos squealed excitedly and already began thinking about how he would covertly inform Gina before the results were posted. </p><p>“Okay, moving on to the part of Troy…” Miss Jenn and EJ kept going through the list of auditionees with occasional commentary from Carlos. </p><p>When casting was finished, Miss Jenn went to go type up the cast sheet, leaving Carlos and EJ alone in the auditorium. <br/>After ensuring that she had fully exited the theater, EJ looked at Carlos mischievously before hopping onto the stage. Carlos laughed as EJ performed a perfect impression of one of the more painful auditions of the day. <br/>“That is so wrong,” Carlos scolded light heartedly.<br/>EJ faltered a bit, wondering if he had maybe gone a bit too far.<br/>“And besides, I think their act was more like this,” Carlos got up from his chair and hopped on stage as well, similarly mimicking the auditionee’s dance moves. The two boys laughed and took turns recounting and recreating funny moments from auditions. </p><p>Growing tired, Carlos plopped down on the edge of the stage and EJ followed suit, sitting next to him. </p><p>“Do you wanna know something really embarrassing?” Carlos said.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“I actually still haven’t seen the entirety of High School Musical 3.” Carlos covered his face with his hands after his confession.</p><p>“What? You mean the movie for the musical we are currently directing? That High School Musical 3? How?”</p><p>“I’ve listened to the songs needed for auditions! And I made it like halfway through, but every time I tried to finish, I just got too emo about graduation and prom and everything.”</p><p>“You know you’re going to have to finish it eventually right? Like once we get past the first 45 minutes worth of scenes,” EJ joked.</p><p>“Yes, EJ, I’m aware,” Carlos said, lightly punching EJ in the shoulder.</p><p>An idea popped into EJ’s head, but he was almost too scared to share it.<br/>Finally he said softly, “Well maybe we should watch it together sometime.”</p><p>Carlos’s eyes widened ever so slightly and he turned to look at EJ. He could feel a blush creeping up his face.<br/>“Yeah...we should.”</p><p>EJ bit back a smile. “Great! I mean, cool… we should do that…” He looked down at his lap.</p><p>Carlos felt a bit of internal panic. What if he’s misreading the situation? What if EJ is just inviting him as friends? <br/>As happy as the invitation made him, he now had so many questions that he knew wouldn’t be answered anytime soon.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Update</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hey guys, so I'm gonna pause this story for a little while until I completely finish with the semester, so I probably won't pick this back up until end of May. However, in the meantime I plan to hopefully write a few shorter pieces for both this ship and kourtwell.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>